No one should be abused, shamed or threatened into denying who they are.
That is not a complicated principle. It is a basic test of the kind of country we want Britain to be: one where people are free to live their lives, love who they choose and be who they are, without fear of abuse.
For years, politicians of different parties said they agreed.
In 2018, Theresa May promised to ban conversion practices. Successive Conservative governments repeated that commitment. But year after year passed and nothing changed. The promises piled up while those at risk were left waiting for protection.
Labour said we would end that failure. We promised a trans-inclusive ban on conversion practices in our manifesto and our draft Bill will deliver just that.
Conversion practices are based on the vile lie that being LGBT+ is wrong and something to be fixed.
Survivors have talked of the pain and anguish they have suffered from ‘corrective’ practice such as being forced to watch pornography, being shamed in front of communities, being restricted in their movements and choices, pressured to take medication supposedly capable of “curing” their sexuality.
That is not therapy. It is not care. It is abuse.
Our draft Bill draws that line clearly.
It will make it a crime deliberately to try to change someone’s sexual orientation or transgender identity through abusive acts which cause serious harm or distress.
It will make it a crime to arrange or encourage someone to be taken abroad for abusive conversion practices, closing a loophole that could otherwise allow perpetrators to evade the law.
These are serious protections against serious harm.
But we have also been determined to get the balance right.
Freedom matters. Freedom from abuse, but also freedom of speech, religious belief, family life and access to legitimate healthcare.
That is why the threshold for prosecution is deliberately high. Prosecutors would have to prove an intention to change someone’s sexual orientation or transgender identity, prove the conduct was abusive, and prove that the effect was to cause serious harm or serious distress – meeting the threshold for criminal proof on all three points.
Parents will still be able to have difficult and challenging conversations with their children. People will remain free to practise their religion. Healthcare professionals will be able to provide legitimate treatment and exploratory therapy. Disagreement will not be criminalised.
With the draft legislation now undergoing parliamentary scrutiny, I had hoped we could put years of division behind us. A ban has commanded support across the political spectrum for years. This should have been an opportunity for Parliament to work together, scrutinise the proposals properly and finally deliver the protection that was promised in 2018.
Instead, we see the Conservatives and Reform are joining forces to try to kill the Bill.
That tells us something about the choice facing British politics.
The Conservatives are chasing Reform further into the politics of division and hate. They are looking for another culture war rather than confronting a problem their own government promised to solve.
Labour is choosing a different path.
We believe politics should be about solving problems, not exploiting them. Government should protect people, not use their lives as political dividing lines. And when we make promises to the country, those promises should mean something.
Earlier this year, we equalised hate crime protections for LGBT+ people. Now we are acting against abusive conversion practices.
Because a society that believes in freedom must defend everyone’s freedom to live safely and openly as themselves.
The Conservatives had years to act and failed. Now Labour is delivering.